Mack Molding, designated an Environmental Leader by the state of Vermont, is a leading custom plastics molder and supplier of contract manufacturing services. As such, the company is involved in a high level of procurement and supply management. Every product shipped is unique and requires its own packaging configuration.
Mack Molding recently revamped its corrugated packaging operation to minimize cardboard consumption and to improve operational efficiencies. Among the contract manufacturer’s goals was a 20 percent reduction in overall packaging costs.
Their first step in reducing time, space, material, and resources involved Packsize International LLC. Mack reduced its corrugated spend and improved operational efficiency through the Packsize On Demand Packaging™ system to produce right-sized boxes as needed for roughly 80 percent of its packaging needs. The installation of a Packsize EM-7 machine took approximately six weeks.
“The Packsize system significantly minimized the need for generic boxes that have to be ordered, received, warehoused, and ultimately tailored to suit various product sizes,” said Mack Molding Procurement Specialist Dan Palmer. “It does a great job in deciding what widths to use for each product, helping us to immediately reduce our scrap rate.”
As the Mack Molding example demonstrates, today’s leading companies are changing their packaging production lines by deciding to no longer purchase boxes. The Packsize system feeds an interconnected stack of sturdy corrugated cardboard into the machine. Using a keypad, a Mack operator inputs the desired dimensions and number of boxes required. The Packsize EM7 machine takes it from there, cutting the cardboard to size, pushing out a flattened box with score lines and a glue tab.
Placed next to the EM7 machine is a Packsize Auto Gluer II that enables the Mack operator to glue the box in less than five seconds. The gluer comes with a Nordson melter, which evenly melts IFS adhesive to give smooth and secure glue joints. Changeover to a different package size is as simple as inputting the new dimensions. Mack Molding recycles 100 percent of any off-fall from the system.
According to Mack Molding Headquarters Plant Manager Bryan Campbell, “The small footprint of the Packsize system reduced our warehouse space requirements, resolved lead time constraints associated with inventorying various sized boxes, and reduced labor involved with stock handling and purchasing. Now we can produce exactly what our production needs require.”
Due to the broad assortment and dimensional variation of their products, Mack Molding saw an additional benefit to using the Packsize system. Campbell added, “We now produce new packaging samples the same day they’re requested to prove out their viability. Prior to using the Packsize system, this would typically take us up to two weeks from an outside development standpoint.”
